DeFrancisco Supports JCOPE

ICYMI: Sen. John DeFrancisco expressed support during a CapTon interview last night for JCOPE, even though the embattled Albany watchdog JCOPE has been accused of leaking information about a potential investigation into his colleague, Sen. Tom Libous.

The powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman and CNY Republican said he’ll continue to have confidence that JCOPE can be effective “until it’s proven otherwise.”

“All we have no is some press releases, and I don’t know what the details are,” he continued.

“I don’t know what was done wrong, if anything. How can you throw out an organization without knowing whether the defects that are being cited are actually supported by facts, and they are something that’s unethical.”

DeFrancisco seemed to sympathize with JCOPE chairwoman/Westchester County DA Janet DiFiore, who is under fire for allegedly assisting a former household employee with getting welfare benefits for which she has been denied three times by county officials.

DiFiore has repeatedly said she did nothing wrong and deemed the allegations against her a political attack.

While DeFrancisco agreed that “ethics applies to the people who are investigating as well as the people who are being investigated,” he also said the following:

“As a public official, it’s very, very difficult. We’re called on by many, many people to help them. But if we help somebody in some way that happens to be close to us, then all of a sudden it’s an unethical thing. And people jump all over that particular person.”

“…I think there’s got to be a balance here. You can’t say you’re a legislator, help the general public, but when someone you’re close to you’re trying to help, then all of a sudden it’s unethical. So, I think that’s got to be looked at as well.”

As for whether the Senate GOP will investigate the Libous leak, DeFrancisco followed Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ lead in walking that back, saying such an effort would make good headlines, but the conference’s main focus at the moment is improving the state’s economy.